


Memories of You

by Pookie02



Category: Persona 3, Persona Series
Genre: Buckle up, Death, F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Mentions of Substance Abuse, Slow Burn, ahue, just slow, mentions of child abuse, not gonna spoil relationships yet though, this game goes into a lot of dark stuff so I'll update tags as it goes, this is going to take forever
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2018-09-15 09:24:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9228692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pookie02/pseuds/Pookie02
Summary: No one can escape time, it delivers us all to the same endAn adaptation of Persona 3 featuring the female protagonist.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello my friends!  
> I have decided to post at least one chapter of the FOUR stories I've been working on each week for as long as I'm able to. That means this monster is finally going to see the light of day. It also means this won't necessarily be the story that gets updated every week, but I'll try to make sure it gets at least one a month (probably more).
> 
> Also, this is only very lightly edited. I may occasionally go shore up some areas otherwise please excuse any errors.
> 
> Anyway, as it states on the package: this is an adaptation. There will be things different from the game, movies or manga, but that's the fun of adaptations, isn't it? I hope you enjoy!

Someone had jumped in front of the train.

The delay announcement hadn't come right out and said it, but 'fatal incident' didn't leave much doubt, especially with how often suicides were happening lately. 

And because of that incident, she was going to be late getting to her new dorm. Today was supposed to be the fresh start away from all her old troubles, both the ones she'd caused and the ones that were out of her control. And someone had killed themselves on the very train line she was taking. It felt like a bad omen.

The next song on her current playlist wasn't what she wanted right now; she thumbed her mp3 player to a better one. The music wasn't doing a very good job of distracting her, however.

Minako Arisato felt her face twist into a grimace as she thought more about the person who had jumped. She didn't know what it was like to want to be dead, so she didn't pretend to understand it. There had been plenty of times in her life when she just wanted to sleep until things were better, but never to the point of hoping she didn't wake up. 

Death had never really frightened her, though. She was a fan of living and was trying to enjoy life when she could, but there wasn't anything she could do to stop death. With the decision out of her hands, she didn't plan to dwell on it.

Her thoughts turned back to the person who had died and wondered if they had a family or friends who knew they'd been in trouble. Minako's face twisted again; she wasn't going to get answers, and she didn't know enough about the situation to start making assumptions.

Her dour thoughts were broken up as something caught her eye in the train's window, a flash of blue turned out to be a butterfly fluttering by. The train was moving slow enough that it kept up for a few moments as Minako watched.

It fluttered out of sight soon after. She watched the spot it had been, wondering why it had been out so late. 

The distraction had calmed down the uneasy feeling that had built up during the day. But once the butterfly faded from her thoughts, the death on the train tracks started coming back to her. With a twang of guilt, she willfully turned her thoughts towards her destination instead of dwelling on the suicide. 

With that decision made, she reached for the bag on her shoulder and pulled out the flyer she'd been sent. Gekkoukan High School. It was a private school, and an expensive one at that. Normally Minako wouldn't have had a prayer of getting in, but a scholarship application she'd filled out on a whim had her moving all the way back to Port Island.

Gekkoukan was supposed to be a beautiful school. Her last school had been... less than beautiful, if not lively. Probably why she had filled out that application. She found herself wondering for probably the fiftieth time it Gekkoukan would be stuffy to go along with their price tag.

As her mind turned that thought over, she saw the Moonlight Bridge pass by in the distance. They weren't far from the station now. The bridge was lit up brightly in the dark, just like the last time she'd been in the area...

"Iwatodai station, next stop," a voice called from the speaker near the car's ceiling, breaking up her thoughts.

Minako pulled her phone from her pocket and let out a sigh. It was 11:50; she'd never make it to the dorm in time now. Shaking her head, she focused for now on getting out of the train as soon as possible.

Everyone else seemed to be eager to get where they were going, making the trek out of the station go quickly. Once outside, the girl reached for her phone to check how much time was left before midnight. Before she was able to flip it open, the sound in her headphones stopped as the lights went out around her.

Minako stopped walking, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Blowing it out, she looked around. The change had come; the power was out everywhere, including her phone and mp3 player. It was much darker, but the street was still illuminated by the gigantic, sickly yellow moon that dominated the sky, so much bigger than it should have been. It looked like it was going to collide with the Earth, and that closeness made the unnatural greenish light it reflected all the more noticeable.

The first few times Minako had seen the Moon when the change had come, it had terrified her. Now she was merely wary, if not appreciative of the sight. It did look cool.

The change, as she'd been calling it, started a few months ago. At the time, she'd merely thought it had been a power outage, but when she'd turned for her dorm roommate and found her replaced with a huge black coffin... well.

Shaking that frightening night's memory from her thoughts, Minako focused on heading for her new dorm. The pamphlet she'd been sent had a map, which she checked again before she started walking.

Getting to the Iwatodai dorm before midnight had been her number one priority, but the incident on the train tracks had ruined that. Now she was going to have to decide whether or not she should go into the building or wait outside for things to go back to normal. Normally, if she was awake, she would just stay in bed. Tonight's travel made things difficult. She had never appreciated how long an hour was until she'd had to wait for the change to stop.

There had also been some hope that the event wouldn't happen after she moved to a new place. She'd wondered if it hadn't been the dorm she'd been staying in. Or the town. But that had been a reach; Minako never really believed it wouldn't follow her.

The walk to the dorm from the train station wasn't long, and soon she found herself standing at the building's door without having made a decision. Less chance for confusion if she just lingered out here, but...

The air felt different here in Port Island than her last town. Before, when the change came, it felt dead and quiet. Here, it felt like there was energy in the air. And it was putting Minako on edge. The final push towards her decision came in the form of hearing something shift somewhere behind her.

She had never seen anything move when the world went quiet, even the few times she'd left the house and looked around the neighborhood. But as she stood still and listened, something definitely moved behind her. Thoughts of waiting outside fled as Minako all but ran for the dorm's door.

The lobby she burst into was large and pleasant-looking. And expensive. But any excitement over getting to live in a fancy place like this was squashed by the reminder that this dorm was only temporary for her: there apparently had been a mix up in her assignment, something she'd been told only the morning before.

Still, even if it was only for a few days, there was no sense in not appreciating the Iwatodai dorm while she could.

"You're late."

Minako jumped, spinning on her heel to see who had spoken. A pair of bright blue eyes were peering up at her from the counter near the door. They belonged to a young boy who was leaning onto the dark wood surface, propped up by his elbows.

"I was starting to worry you'd never come," he added.

"Well... I'm here now-" Another noise to her side stole Minako's attention. She glanced over and found the boy standing just a few feet from her. He couldn't possibly have moved that fast.

"Please sign your name," he spoke up, voice cheerful but odd. He wore a set of striped pajamas that looked a little big for him and sandals. "If you still planned to continue." He pointed back to the counter, to what looked like a sign-in book bound in leather. 

Going to look, Minako found it was actually a single sheet of paper. 'Contract' was at the top in big, bold letters. The wording below was fairly simple, but-

"It means you'll accept responsibility for your actions," the boy spoke up again. 

Minako looked at him. He looked... familiar. Very familiar. In a way that was starting to make her question herself. Was this a dream? It certainly felt like one.

The boy was smiling. "There's no need to fear."

Minako's eyes went back to the contract. There was a pen sitting next to it, waiting for her. Contracts weren't something to take lightly, but she also didn't have a problem facing consequences of the things she did. 

The pen was in her hand. Despite knowing she should have misgivings, she didn't feel any doubt. This felt right.

She signed her name on the marked line.

Setting the pen down, she picked up the leather-bound contract and handed it to the boy. He took it, hugging it to his chest casually, though his movements looked sincere. "Even if we cover our ears and close our eyes, times waits for no one." The cheerful tone had faded a bit, and his smile had turned sad. He looked up at her again. "So it begins."

He held his hand out to her, and Minako felt a sudden compulsion to take it, but the boy was fading back into the shadows of the dorm. The moment, strange and dream-like as it was, was peaceful and calm. She felt-

"Who are you?!"

Minako turned to see that a girl who looked her age had entered the lounge. Her outfit was dominated by a pink sweater, but Minako focused far more on gun holster on her hip. The one the other girl was currently unsnapping the safety strap to.

The hand shook as it hovered by the holster as they just stared at each other. Minako was almost certain she saw fear in the other girl's face. Just as she came to that conclusion, the girl in pink started for the gun, and Minako threw her hands up.

"Woah! I-"

"Takeba!" another voice shouted. Both Minako and the girl in pink snapped their heads towards the source. The power in that voice not something either could resist, even in the sudden chaos.

The speaker was another girl who had come down the stairs to the lounge. She wore stylish clothing, but her silhouette was dominated by her long red curls. Once she was at the side of the girl in pink, she nodded and spoke up.

"It's okay," she said to the other girl.

The girl in pink gave her a startled look. "But-" Before she could finish, the lights came back on. Minako startled a little as the sound in the headphones around her neck came back to life. She reached for the player with a hand she hadn't realized was still up and thumbed it off.

She also noticed the girl in pink relax as well. Once it seemed like no one was about to get shot, the redhead's commanding demeanor calmed, though maintained it's professional air. It didn't take long for Minako to notice the gun belt on that girl as well, however.

"I didn't expect you to arrive so late," the redhead spoke up. "I'm Mitsuru Kirijo. I'm one of the students who live in this dorm. I am a senior at Gekkoukan this year."

Kirijo was the name of the company that owned the school and, well, probably a quarter of Japan. Given how Minako felt like she should be groveling while just in Mitsuru's presence, it was an easy guess that they were connected.

Once she realized she hadn't actually answered, she managed a nod in the older girl's direction.

The girl in pink, while less tense than before, was still giving Minako an uneasy look. "Who is she?"

"Minako Arisato, correct?" Mitsuru asked, which got a nod from the girl in question. "She was transferred here last minute, but she's due to go to the girls' dorm later."

"Is... that okay?" the girl in pink asked.

Mitsuru gave her a tight smile. "We'll see."

Minako was obviously missing something, but before she could give the matter more thought, she realized the two girls before her had been around for the blackout. Not in coffins.

That almost had her belting out a question, but... Well, that kind of thing wasn't exactly something she wanted to admit to. Maybe the times before had been a hallucination...

"This is Yukari Takeba," Mitsuru said, breaking up her line of thought. "She'll be a junior this year, just like you."

"Oh!" Yukari looked a little startled, then a little sheepish. "Hey."

This time Minako remembered herself enough to respond. "Nice to meet you."

Yukari still seemed unsure, though as she nodded, her face cleared a bit. "It's nice to meet you, too."

Minako nearly asked about the guns both the girls were wearing, but Mitsuru spoke up again before she could. "It's late, and school starts tomorrow. You should get some rest. Takeba can show you to your room."

"Um. Oh!" Yukari nodded. "Yeah, come on." Neither girl seemed particularly willing to let Minako absorb any of this. Yukari started up the stairs without waiting. Minako followed after, glancing back to see Mitsuru was still looking her way.

She focused on going up the two flights of stairs to the first floor, where Yukari led her to the last door in the hallway. "Here we are," she said. "Oh, here's your key."

She dug around in her pockets and handed over the key. "Don't lose it, or Mitsuru will give you a lecture." Yukari's face darkened a bit. "You don't want a lecture from Mitsuru."

Minako nodded, even though her head was practically spinning at this point. This was way too much to keep up with, and several questions were starting to bubble up. 

"Oh uh..." Yukari hadn't moved away from her or her door yet. "Did you notice anything strange on your way here?"

The key in her hand was forgotten as Minako looked up at Yukari again. Was she asking about...

"What do you mean?" she asked instead of answering herself; better to get it out of the other girl than to stick her neck out, Minako figured. But it seemed like that wasn't what Yukari had been hoping for.

"It's nothing." She shook her head. "Look... I'm sure you have a lot of questions. Just..." She shook her head again. frowning at the wall before she looked back. "Hold off for now, okay?"

Minako felt her mouth close firmly. At least she was acknowledging that something had happened. But still, she couldn't let it go like it was. "Am I in danger being here?"

Yukari looked back at her, an evaluating look on her face. Eventually, she answered, "If you weren't before, you aren't now." She shrugged.

Minako let out a sigh, then nodded. That was about all she could hope for, she supposed.

"Well... Mitsuru's right. We should sleep. First day back and all." She started to step away, then stopped. "Oh uh, make sure you key works. I'm sure you don't want to wind up sleeping in the hallway."

There was a bit of a smile at that, and Minako did as asked. The door swung open after it accepted the key. 

"Good," Yukari said once she saw the door open. "All right, good night."

"Good night," Minako said, watching as Yukari headed for the next door in the hall. Turning back for her own room, she reached in and felt around on the wall until she found the light switch and snapped it on.

The room was large, and with a start Minako reached back for the light switch again; she was probably waking her roommate up. But then she stopped; there was only one bed in the room. This huge room was just for her?

Minako had been having a hard enough time with tonight's events as it was, but this? Privacy, a mini-fridge, a TV and a laptop on the desk waiting for her. This was almost harder to believe than the coffins. Almost.

Maybe they would forget to transfer her. Maybe she could ask to be Mitsuru's maid or something so she could keep this room...

 

****

*.*.*

Yukari had offered to walk with Minako to school the next morning. Well, it sounded like she had been ordered by Mitsuru. That was kind of odd, but maybe the older girl just wanted to make sure Minako was getting looked after. A Kirijo probably didn't have time to keep an eye on some random junior, but the thought was nice anyway.

They were sitting on a bench near the monorail station, waiting. Minako wished she had grabbed something to eat, but she had been too jittery for food earlier. The first day of school at a new place was always a tense thing. She had heard good things about Gekkoukan, but all it took was one asshole to make things start on a bad foot.

Getting worried ahead of time wasn't going to do her any good, though, so she decided to change the subject from her own mind. "So, who else lives at the dorm?" she asked Yukari, who had been quiet herself so far. "Does that middle floor have anyone on it yet?" Despite how big the building was, it seemed like it was made for only a small group of people. And even then it seemed practically empty.

"Only one so far. Akihiko Sanada; he's a senior," Yukari said as she tugged her sock a bit higher.

Minako's head turned towards the other girl. "It's a co-ed dorm?" She was unable to keep the displeased tone out of her voice.

"Uh... yeah." Yukari looked over to Minako, a small frown on her face, "Does that bother you?"

"Well, that depends." Locking her door would solve most of the potential problem, but even still. "What's he like?"

"All Akihiko does is train and study." Yukari shook her head. "You really don't need to worry about him."

Minako nodded distractedly as she mulled this information over. Yukari seemed friendly, but last night's gun-based introduction hadn't exactly been forgotten. Yet at the same time, she almost irrationally felt like she could trust the other girl. 

Either way, a guy in the dorm wasn't the worst news. Keeping her door locked and being mindful in the halls should be enough. She finally glanced back to Yukari, "What's he training for?"

"Boxing. He's the captain of the school's team. And he's never lost a match."

Well that was something. She was pretty sure she had heard about some unstoppable boxing machine at her last school. There was some concern: a guy in her dorm who didn't need a weapon to be a threat. Bah, boxers didn't know how to fight dirty. Even if things got ugly, a knee to the groin did wonders to even the playing field.

She refused to let herself focus on the dour aspects of the conversation and moved on to potential benefits. "So...boxer huh? Is he a looker?"

Yukari laughed. "Well, I've seen his arms in summer; the training has paid off. He's cute, too. Not my type, personally, but he's nice."

Minako thought she heard her neck crack when she whipped it around again. It shouldn't have surprised her an undefeated boxer was built, but still. "Muscled and cute? And you say you're not interested? Is he dating someone?"

"Nope."

"Is he a jerk or something?"

"Nope."

"And you're sure he's not dating someone?"

Yukari laughed again, getting up once she saw the monorail coming for the station "I'm positive; he's completely clueless about girls. He's got a whole fan club that would be all over him if they had the chance and he has no idea."

"A fanclub?" Who was this guy, exactly? "The kind that makes cute posters to wave during a match or the blood ritual type?"

"They set rules about how they can interact with him. I hear there are oaths."

Minako's eyebrows shot up. "Wow. That's... Well that's something all right. And he doesn't know?"

"Nope. Too busy with boxing."

Minako shook her head as the final traces of worry faded into curiosity. "Huh."

****

*.*.*

The excitement of getting to a new school wore off just about ten minutes into the principle's welcoming speech. Minako was suddenly very much aware of how tired she was. She'd been too excited to sleep the day before she'd left for Port Island and last night there had hardly been time to get any rest.

The droning of the principle did not help. Why did school officials always drone?

Just as the girl felt herself starting to drift off, she blinked her eyes back open and pinched her leg. The smarting sting was enough to keep her aware of her surroundings.

Which was apparently a good thing. Minako heard a few people talking around and she was pretty sure she heard-

"...Transfer student?" a boy's voice said.

"Yeah, I saw her. She came in with Yukari," another answered.

Minako felt herself slide down in her seat. Not out of embarrassment; this was far from her first time being in this position. She just didn't want anyone gawking at her while she fell asleep.

One of the teachers started shushing everyone, and with that distraction gone, she was back to falling asleep to the principle's speech.

 

****

*.*.*

Just as the last bell for the day sounded, Minako felt her stomach let out a pitiful rumble. Too busy, too many new people to meet at lunch, too focused on getting a feel for the school, and she wound up not eating the whole day. The good news was that she liked what she'd seen so far. The school still felt new; it was clean and seemed well-maintained, and the teachers were reasonable. At least most of them.

She rolled her head until her neck popped, then gathered her things into her bag. Her mind wandered to the assembly and the already mounting rumor mill. Minako found herself wondering how wild the rumors about her would get.

"'Sup, dude?" A voice broke her out of her thoughts just as she got out of her seat. One of the boys from her class had walked up. "Man, you look a little shell-shocked."

Minako sincerely hoped that wasn't the case, but still, "And you are?"

"Junpei Iori. Nice to meet ya," He grinned. "I transferred here a few years ago, so I know how it is to be the new kid."

Probably not as often as Minako did, but the girl didn't say as much. The boy continued.

"I thought I'd check up on you, make sure you weren't freaking out or anything on your first day."

Minako almost thought he was about to ask her out. While that attempt would get cut off quickly, she had to give him points for going for it out the gate. But before either of them spoke again, Yukari walked over.

"She just got here and you're already bothering her," she huffed. "Maybe you ought to let her get used to the place before you make her regret transferring."

Minako couldn't help but smile at Yukari. She didn't really need help deflecting school boys... but the gesture was nice. Besides, Junpei didn't-

"What?! But I was just trying to be nice," the boy squawked, looking genuinely confused.

"If you say so," Yukari said, then sighed and looked Minako's way as her expression softened. "What a coincidence we wound up in the same homeroom, huh?"

"Yeah, it's nice to have a friend in class already," she responded.

Yukari looked startled for a moment, but recovered. "You mean me? I... Yeah, I'm glad we ended up in the same room."

Minako thought for a moment she had overstepped, but the other's girl tone sounded genuine at the end. That was a relief.

"Hey, I'm here too," Junpei spoke up. "But I heard you two came to school together this morning." He waggled his eyebrows. "Two cuties walking in at the same time; everyone was talking about it."

"Ugh, cut it out. I hate rumors." Yukari's friendly tone had dissipated. "I don't really care about them," she added, "but Minako just got here. Don't make things harder for her."

He held his hands up, and Yukari shook her head. "I have archery club... Are you going to be okay?" she directed at Minako.

"Yeah, thanks."

Yukari nodded. "Good. And you," she turned back to Junpei, "don't try anything funny, got it?"

His hands went back up, and she sighed before heading out of the class. Once the girl was gone, Junpei's hands flopped back down.

"What is she, your nanny?" he huffed.

Minako merely grinned at him as she had to keep from mentioning the gun the girl had carried the night before.

"Well... look," Junpei continued, "I really didn't come over here to hit on you." He tilted his head a little. "Rumors are pretty bad at this school, and there are always a few rotten eggs in the bunch. If you ever have a problem, come tell your ol' pal Junpei about it, okay?"

Minako gave him a mild and somewhat insincere suspicious look. But then again... "Which eggs are bad?"

His grin faded just a little bit. "Well... you didn't hear this from me, but Toru, the guy who sits here..." He walked over and knocked his knuckle on the desk a few rows up from Minako. "Word is he's been in trouble with the cops for fights."

The girl let out a snort. "He's in good company."

Junpei's eyebrows shot up at that. "You've been arrested for fighting?"

"Nah, never arrested. Maybe a talking to a few times, though." She winked at the boy as she gathered her things. "See you later, Iori." 

On the way down the stairs, she heard Junpei again. "Hey! Wait up!"

Once she reached the first floor, she waited for him to catch up. He had a grin a little less artificial than the one before on his face. "So are ya gonna tell me who you pummeled or what? I'll walk you home while we're at it."

She thought about it a moment. All the way home, huh? Did she really want th-

Junpei leaned forward. "It was foxy boxing, right? Or one of those mud wrestling deals?" He waggled his eyebrows furiously.

Minako punched him in the arm lightly, and he let out a squawk. "Call the police! I'm getting murdered by a felon!"

"Come on, you shithead," she laughed. "I'll tell you all about the guy whose kidney I bruised that earned me that talking-to."

Junpei's grin slipped a little bit, but then it was back in full force. "You're a little hellion, huh? Nice."

They made their way out of the building and to the front gates of the school. A group, likely from a sports club, jogged by as they went.

"Heh, look at them go," Junpei laughed. "Oh uh, I guess club signup for new members will be coming up. I don't know if you're up for any of that, but it kills time, I guess."

"Are you in any clubs?" Minako asked as she watched the group hustle on. 

"Huh, me? Nah. I'm too busy." He tapped his watchless wrist. "Got a few games coming out soon I've been looking forward to, so I need my schedule clear."

"On that note, how's the arcade prospects around here, anyway?" Minako asked as they got to the gate and left the school grounds.

"Paulownia mall has a good one. I'll take you over there one day if you want."

Minako grinned with a nod. "Great. I'd say let's go right now, but I'm beat."

"Yeah, new school will do that to you," he nodded. "Just let me know when you want to go. I guess that means you're out for clubs too, huh?"

"We'll see," Minako murmured as she looked around the street, hoping to get used to the landmarks. Yukari probably wasn't going to walk her to school every morning. She had to get this down. "I might go look for some work first."

"There's a maid cafe in that mall, if you're interested." His eyebrows were wiggling again.

"Eaugh, not a gross one, right?"

"Nah. I hear the woman running the place will throw anyone out who goes too far. I've never actually been in there myself, though."

Minako nodded as her mind wandered again. Waitressing or bussing was always a good way to get cash. She'd have to see.

"Which dorm are you at?" Junpei asked as they got to the monorail station.

"Iwatodai," Minako answered. "Uh... not far from that shrine."

"Oh yeah, I know the one," he nodded. "Fancy digs. How did you wind up in the same dorm as Mitsuru Kirijo?"

"I'm only there until housing gets settled, then I get shipped off to one of the other places, I guess." The girl felt a frown tug on her mouth at the thought of leaving. "Too bad. It's nice in there."

"Ah, maybe they'll forget to transfer you. Yukari's there too?"

"Yeah. Oh hey, do you know anything about Akihiko Sanada?"

"Hoo boy." He let out a laugh. "You don't kid around, do you?"

"I haven't even seen him yet," she tsked at his jumped conclusions. "He lives at the dorm. Yukari says he has a fan club."

"That's what I hear too, but I don't really know anything about him though. Except he's undefeated in boxing."

"Ah well. Man, with all that hype he better not disappoint."

Junpei laughed. "Mysterious undefeated senior who girls flock to? That's a lot to live up to."


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minako meets Chairman Ikutsuki and visits the Velvet Room for the first time

"Then my pencil broke, so it was pointless," Ikutsuki said, grinning expectantly at Yukari.

"Ah.. aha ha...ha..." The girl's face twisted into the closest thing to a smile she could make. It wasn't very convincing. 

The chairman didn't seem to notice how faked Yukari's response had been, or at least didn't comment on it. It was just the two of them sitting in the dorm's living room, and Yukari was starting to notice how awkward it was without Mitsuru or Akihiko as a buffer.

Luckily, the front door opened before any attempts at conversation were continued. Minako looked tired as she trudged into the room, but her expression snapped to alert once she noticed the people waiting for her.

"Here she is," Yukari spoke up as she stood, just in case Ikutsuki hadn't noticed. 

Rising to his feet as well, the man smiled warmly. "Hello, I am Shuji Ikutsuki, the chairman of the Board for Gekkoukan High School."

Minako nodded. "Nice to meet you."

The chairman smiled at her response. "You are Minako Arisato, the new student, correct?" At the girl's nod, he continued. "Please, have a seat and speak with us for a moment."

He moved back to the chair he'd been sitting in, and Minako sat on the couch. Yukari had been paying attention to the other girl's reaction to the chairman, but she was hard to read. Not wanting to stare at her, Yukari sat on the couch next to her and faced the chairman.

"I apologize for the confusion regarding your accommodations," Ikutsuki said once they were all settled. "But I'm afraid it may take a few more days before your new dorm assignment is figured out."

"Oh," Minako gave a little laugh. "That's okay."

"Is there anything you'd like to ask? About the school or perhaps this area?" Ikutsuki offered, leaning back in his chair a bit.

The question seemed to take Minako off guard. She glanced at Yukari, then back to the chairman. "Uh, well, I'm sorry if this sounds rude, but why are you here?"

"To welcome you," the man responded, then gave an amused smile at Minako's disbelieving look. "And, I admit, I do have business here." He glanced at Yukari. "Mitsuru is here today, yes?"

"Yeah, upstairs," she answered, noticing Minako looking her way curiously.

"Ever diligent," the chairman said with a shake of his head. "Though it never hurts to take a break. Anyway," he looked back at Minako, "was there anything else?"

Minako glanced at Yukari again. She almost looked apologetic. "Is... there something strange about this dorm?"

Ikutsuki looked a little startled. So did Yukari for that matter. 

"You saw something odd?" the chairman asked, tilting his head. "Yukari tells me you've met Mitsuru. You know there's another student in the dorm, Akihiko Sanada, correct?"

"Yukari told me about him," she answered. "I haven't seen him yet, but I did see something strange."

"What was it?" Ikutsuki asked, looking casually curious. Yukari was surprised to see the man act so smoothly about this. He didn't seem the type to play it cool... ever.

Now it was Minako who looked unsure. Her mouth closed to a firm line before opening again. "I uh... I don't know, must have been half asleep or something."

"A move to a new city can be very tiring, never mind starting school right away." Ikutsuki's tone was kindly now. "You likely will need more rest while you're settling in. So, I suppose I shouldn't keep you any longer." He stood, and Yukari and Minako did as well.

"It was nice to meet you, and I hope the school year goes well," Ikutsuki said, starting for the stairs.

"Thank you..." Minako answered, watching him go with a frown. Eventually it faded, and she looked back at Yukari.

"Have you eaten yet? I got a couple ramen bowls I can fix up."

"Huh?" Yukari hadn't expected that. "Oh! No, I haven't eaten. That would be great!" The strange little twist of tension that had come with Ikutsuki's visit faded at the offer. "What do you put in yours?"

"That depends on how much effort I feel like expending," the other girl explained as she started for the stairs. "And since I'm beat, not much. I'll meet you in the kitchen."

A few moments later, Minako was squeezing lime into two paper bowls. "How hot is too hot for you?" she asked, wiggling a bottle of chili oil.

"I like it pretty hot," Yukari answered, wondering if Minako could do more than doctor noodle bowls. If she could cook, then-

"Are you coming on to me, Takeba?" the other girl said, grinning as she carefully added the oil to each bowl.

"What!?" Yukari squawked. "No! I didn't-"

Minako started laughing loudly, interrupting her. "Don't worry, I already know you're out of my league." She turned to face Yukari with a grin and pointed a spoon at her. "I've been hearing how popular you are."

"Ugh, that," Yukari sighed. "Let me guess, Kenji has spoken to you?"

"Don't think I've met a Kenji yet," the other girl answered. She replaced the lids on the bowls, scooped them up and started out of the kitchen. "Grab the drinks, would you?"

Yukari did as asked, and soon they were settling down at the table in the dining area. "Consider yourself lucky about not meeting Kenji yet," the girl said to Minako as she drummed her fingers on the table. "But if you keep being chummy with Junpei, you'll wind up dealing with him sooner or later."

"Aw, Junpei seems pretty okay. I mean, he's an asshole, but a loveable one."

"Junpei can be okay. Sometimes." Yukari shook her head. "Kenji's ten times worse."

"Well everyone I've met so far has been nice, so sooner or later I've got to meet a rat." She tapped the cover on her noodle bowl. "It should be good by now."

Both girls pulled off the lids to their ramen. Yukari felt a smile come over her as the soup's scent wafted out. "Thank you for making these."

"No problem," Minako said with a smile. Her gaze turned toward the kitchen. "So uh... I couldn't help but notice, besides Ikutsuki showing up today, no dorm mom or anything, huh?"

"There was one a while back," Yukari said as she grabbed her chopsticks. "But we never wound up with a new one. And if you can cook, you'll make friends in this house real quick."

"So no adult supervision around here?" Minako asked as she started eating.

Yukari shook her head. "It's just Mitsuru, Akihiko and I. None of us are exactly rowdy, I suppose. Though I'm sure if Mitsuru wasn't vouching for us, they'd have someone here all the time." 

She tried a bite of her noodles, which were hot and sour and delicious. "Mmmm," she hummed. "Good."

"I like it when it clears out your sinuses," Minako said, grinning when Yukari nodded in response.

By the time she'd swallowed, Yukari found her gaze had also wandered towards the kitchen. "So does it bother you? Us not having any adults around here regularly?"

"Hell no," Minako said with a snort. "After the last dorm mom I had to deal with, this is a dream come true." She went back to her food, then glanced up. "So what was that business Ikutsuki was talking about?"

"Hmm?" Yukari took a moment to chew her mouthful so she could think. "Oh, Kirijo Group stuff with Mitsuru. She's supposed to take over one day, you know."

"Ah," Minako nodded, though she didn't look completely convinced. 

Yukari felt something in her gut twist. She almost asked about Minako's questions to Ikutsuki, but decided it was probably a bad idea. That thought didn't do much to calm her stomach.

****

*.*.*

Yukari's stomach, which had been content after dinner, was now starting to turn again. She didn't have to try hard to figure out why; displayed on the monitor before her was Minako, stretched out on her bed, asleep. She didn't know what the girl had been through in her life, but she was careful about letting her guard down. And here Yukari was spying on her while she slept.

Next to her, Mitsuru was sitting at another section of the console, absorbed in her work. For the most part, it was a typical night; Mitsuru would search for anomalies in shadow readings, Yukari would occasionally help her, and Akihiko would go out to practice by fighting whatever shadows he could find.

The girl held back a sigh. Joining SEES, once it was clear she fit the very specific criteria, had been her biggest break yet. But once the dust settled and she'd moved in and learned what there was to learn, it felt like they were just spinning their wheels. And they wouldn't be able to do much more than that until they had more members. Her eyes drifted over to Minako, feeling her stomach turn again.

"Is something wrong, Takeba?" Mitsuru spoke up, looking up from her console. Her tone was professional as always, but there was concern in her voice.

"Huh? Oh..." The older girl's occasional breaks from her stiff demeanor always took Yukari off guard. Before she could speak again, the door opened and Ikutsuki rejoined them.

"Ah, she is asleep," the man said, having excused himself when Minako had started getting ready for bed. 

"Do you think she has the potential?" Mitsuru asked, cutting right to the point as usual.

Ikutsuki smiled. "Well, they would have preyed on her by now if she didn't. But let's keep monitoring her a few days to be sure."

The idea of Minako becoming one of the lost turned Yukari's stomach again. She glanced at the monitor and found herself blurting her next thought out loud. "I feel bad spying on her..." 

"It's important that we determine her abilities," Ikutsuki reasoned, not missing a beat. "Not just because she might be able to help us; it's for her own good as well."

Yukari was still frowning, but relented with a nod. Minako had definitely been awake and aware during the Dark Hour. She supposed they did need to make sure...

On the screen Minako shifted in her sleep, and Yukari knew no reasonable explanation was going to make the queasy feeling go away.

****

*.*.*

She was in a blue elevator.

Minako figured out she was dreaming relatively quickly. Usually she did right before waking up, if it happened at all. She was pretty sure if you were able to figure it out without waking up, you could do anything you wanted in your dream.

But before she tested that theory, she noticed she wasn't the only person in the blue elevator. There was a man sitting on an ornate blue couch before a table with a deep indigo table cloth. He had huge wild eyebrows and bulging eyes, but his face was dominated by an incredibly long nose. Dressed in a fine suit and white gloves, he was a strange sight.

Once he saw her notice him, he nodded to her. "Welcome to the Velvet Room."

Minako looked around again. The elevator was huge, the size of a large room. Besides the two of them and the table, there were doors lining the two walls at her sides. Some of them were covered with sheets, and they all stood on their own away from the walls themselves.

"My name is Igor," the man introduced himself, getting her attention again. "I am delighted to make your acquaintance." He held a hand up as he continued. "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. Only those who have signed the contract can enter this place."

The contract, the one the little boy in the striped pajamas had offered her when she first entered the dorm, was on the table between them. She could see her signature on it.

"Henceforth, you shall be welcome here in the Velvet Room. You are destined to hone your unique ability. And you will need my help to do so."

He leaned forward a bit. "I only ask one thing in return..."

Minako wanted to ask him about the ability he mentioned, but waited for him to continue. Thoughts of trying out lucid dreaming had left her by now. This situation, bizarre as it was, was too interesting to interrupt.

"...That you abide by the contract, and assume responsibility for the choices you make."

That had been what the contract had said. And it still was something she could agree to. "I understand," came out of her mouth. Despite all the strangeness and unanswered questions, at least she could agree to her own actions.

But still... "Is this a dream?" she asked.

"Precisely!" Igor seemed pleased with her question. "This is merely a dream, an illusion to your mind. But you will come here of your own accord sooner or later."

"Hold on to this," he said. A little burst of light popped up in front of her, then faded into a key that floated in the air. She reached out, and it readily fell into her hand.

"There are others who dwell here, and one in particular that I will make sure you are properly introduced to," Igor continued. "But perhaps another time."

"Oh? Why not now?"

He chuckled. "You're starting to wake up, for one thing." 

Minako startled a bit as she saw the elevator and the man start to fade into darkness.

"'Til we meet again," echoed in her mind as the rest faded.


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night of the first full moon in Port Island and some introductions

"Minako!" 

The girl in question had just stuck a candy into her mouth as she made for the school's gate. Yukari had asked if she wanted to go to the strip mall after school, but at the sound of the voice calling to her, she stopped and turned.

A second year from another class was waving at her, she waited for the other girl to catch up. "Hey," Minako said, grinning a bit at the out of breath girl.

"Hey, I'm Haruka," she said, "from class 2-F."

"I'm Min-"

"I know," the other girl interrupted as she straightened up. "The new girl."

Minako felt a little huff escape her, hopefully unnoticed. "That's me."

"You also live in the Iwatodai dorm, right?"

"I do for now, but I'm supposed to get transferred out to the regular dorm soon," Minako corrected, now starting to wonder where this was going.

"Well, you're there for at least a little longer." The girl looked undeterred, for whatever it was she was after anyway. "I think you can help us."

Alarm was just starting to flicker to life in the back of Minako's head, though she wasn't particularly sure why. What was she talking about?

"You've met Akihiko, right?" Haruka asked, tilting up a bit on her feet as she did.

"Actually, I haven't," Minako said with a little snort. "He's a busy guy, I guess."

"Oh, you haven't." Again, this Haruka didn't look any less enthusiastic at her response. "But you will."

"I might, but I could wind up transferred before it even happens."

"Well, if you do meet him, maybe you could help with some questions we have." Haruka teetered back and forth on her toes like she couldn't contain her energy.

This whole setup had been confusing, to say the least. Minako felt like she was missing something important. "Who's 'we'?"

"Oh, just a few of us girls. We go to all of Akihiko's matches."

That finally clicked the pieces together; Haruka must be part of Akihiko's oath-taking fan club. The one Yukari had gently warned her about. It would probably pay to be diplomatic in this situation.

"Interesting." Minako crunched on the candy in her mouth. "What's in it for me?"

The other girl's friendly look faded, though instead of looking disappointed or offended, a knowing grin came over her. "What do you want?"

"Oh, I'm going to have to think about that." She crunched again for emphasis.

"I'll talk to you about it tomorrow," Haruka said, and with a final smile, she turned and started off.

Minako watched her go, chewing the little bits of her remaining candy. She was going to have to think about how she would respond tomorrow, because there was no way in hell she was helping the Cult of Akihiko.

****

*.*.*

"She didn't."

"She did."

Yukari laughed, covering her mouth so she wouldn't make a fool of herself as they walked through the mall. "If it makes you feel better, they did the same thing to me when I moved into the dorm."

Minako was handling the situation well, though she did lean in a little when she spoke next. "Yukari, I'm starting to think this Akihiko is a very elaborate joke everyone's pulling on me. This has all been too wild, and I've still yet to see him. I almost peeked into the gym to see the boxing club just to get it over with."

Yukari found herself laughing again. "Well that would have gotten you in trouble with the fan club. No gawking without approval."

"I'm going to have a very hard time dealing with this school if you all are working together to trick me," the other girl breathed out.

"I want to say he's just a normal guy, but honestly he can be just as ridiculous."

"Oh?" Minako had been looking at the arcade, but that brought her attention back. "How so?" 

"There's no way to explain him right, you're just going to have to wait and see." Again, she laughed when Minako let out a little huff in response. Once the matter was settled, she went back to showing Minako around the mall.

****

*.*.*

Something was off about tonight. The air tasted coppery, the sky was a sickly green, and the moon looked like it took up most of the sky. But that was normal enough during the Dark Hour.

Akihiko Sanada avoided the puddles of blood that dotted the street he walked. He would be lying if he said he was wandering aimlessly. Sure, he was out to do some training, but he was also hoping he would find someone else around while he did.

But his target was stubborn; even if Akihiko did find him, he probably wouldn't agree to join him tonight. Even if he did agree, it would only be a temporary thing. What the high school senior really wanted to do was start exploring more of Tartarus with the rest of SEES. That meant Shinji too.

But he didn't seem to be out today. Or he was avoiding Akihiko. 

The senior let out a huff of air; Shinji's reluctance to come back to SEES was a constant source of annoyance. It wasn't like Akihiko didn't understand his reasoning, but dwelling on mistakes in the past wasn't going to do anything for his friend's future.

For now, Akihiko decided on going back to his original plan: finding something active in the blood-soaked street. The annoyance of not finding Shinjiro faded at the thought of getting into a fight. He had to keep his training up, after all.

Especially since they might be getting another new member; Mitsuru had mentioned the girl who had been transferred to their dorm had the potential. New members meant more action, maybe even starting a real exploration of Tartarus. 

It had seemed like finding new people with the potential had dried up around the time Shinjiro left. Now they were getting new members, one right after another. While having more Persona users was good, it left the boy wondering if something was happening they didn't understand. If that was the case, it certainly couldn't be anything good.

The teenager's thought process was broken up by the sound of... footsteps? Something was walking, or skittering maybe, nearby. But the sound was strange, loud and quiet at the same time. It had to be a shadow.

Akihiko nearly started after the sound at a jog, but something about that skittering had him approach a little more carefully. Two streets down from where he had been, he turned a corner and saw it.

It was huge, at least four meters wide if it didn't extend its arms. And it was only arms; inky black with hands on the ends and no center mass. Akihiko couldn't determine the exact number as it moved, but it looked to have at least sixteen hands. Seven of the hands held swords, while one held a blue mask. The Roman numeral I was stamped on the forehead of the mask, which would make it magician arcana.

It was the biggest shadow Akihiko had ever seen. And with its lack of a body, strikes would be hard to land. But lightning would likely work just fine on it. There was a stray thought to get Mitsuru for backup first, but he wasn't about to let the thing get away while he waited.

He stepped out into the road, evoker already out of its holster. He pressed it to his forehead and pulled the trigger. "Persona!"

Polydeuces' strange form crackled into its temporary existence, and with a wave of his hand lighting arced into the shadow. The creature jerked and sputtered as electricity danced across its limbs, but made no noise otherwise. Once the shadow recovered from the strike, it turned its mask Akihiko's way, then its swords. 

Before it started skittering towards him on the hands not otherwise occupied, Akihiko summoned Polydeuces again, who blasted the creature another time. It jerked back, but then surged forward once the electricity dissipated.

It was fast, far faster than the boxer expected. He had to dive out of the way of three swords once the creature reached him. Rolling back to his feet, Akihiko duck behind another sword as it swung his way. There was a quick thrill in his gut as he dropped to his stomach and rolled to the side of another flurry of attacks. 

He barely had enough time to dodge the shadow, never mind swing at it himself or summon his Persona. He started backing up as soon as he was on his feet again, but the creature followed. It looked like a disjointed spider when it walked on half of its hands, still at a startling speed. Fortunately, he was moving fast enough that the shadow couldn't attack him and keep up. 

The boxer was starting to think he needed to go back for help; this thing was too much for one person. Yukari's ability to shoot a bow would come in handy, even if she hadn't fought a shadow yet.

But just as he was about to turn and run for it, the huge shadow dove for him. Half of the swords swung down, and he had to give up his backward motion to dive to the side. But the other half were waiting for him there. Akihiko was able to throw himself out of the blades' paths, but one of the arms slammed into him, knocking him back. 

The blow was nearly hard enough to knock him off his feet. By the time he regained his footing, an empty hand crashed into him. This time the shadow's grip remained as it pushed Akihiko back and off his feet, slamming him into the wall of a building.

The impact wasn't nearly as bad as the shadow's crushing grip. Searing pain erupted in his ribs. Worse still, his left arm was pinned. The shadow's hand was still latched on, fingers digging into the already damaged area.

The shadow's limbs surrounded Akihiko as he was held against the wall. He groaned at the pain in his side, but pushed it out of his focus as he reached down to his holster. The move was awkward as he twisted his wrist to grab the evoker with his right hand, but he managed to get the device to his head.

"Polydeuces!" he cried as he pulled the trigger. The Persona appeared, and lightning struck against the shadow as many times as Akihiko could manage. The electricity pulsed and arced across the creature, zapping into the boxer as well. But the stinging pain he took was minor compared to the shadow.

He felt the hand gripping him loosen, and Akihiko threw himself away from the wall. He broke free, then wasted no time running as fast as he could in the direction of the dorms. 

His left arm hung loosely at his side until he braced it with his right. He needed backup.

****

*.*.*

A loud thud startled Minako out of her doze. Shaking her head, she sat up and realized she'd fallen asleep at her desk. Maybe Mitsuru had been right about her being exhausted...

She could hear heavy, rapid footfalls coming down the hall and shook her head again. Glancing at her clock... oh. 

Minako's cloudy thoughts finally cleared as she realized what time it must be if the power was out in her room. She got out of her chair to see who else was up; probably Yukari or Mitsuru. The three of them were going to have to have a little talk about-

"Hey! Wake up!" Yukari's voice shouted from the other side of the door. Before Minako could respond, she heard the click of her door unlocking. "Sorry! I'm coming in!" 

The other junior burst in a moment later. Any demands as to why the girl had a key to Minako's room were immediately cut off as another rumbling crash came from outside. 

"We have to get out of here, come on!" Yukari grabbed Minako's arm and started pulling her toward the door. Minako didn't resist. In fact, another rumble from outside had her running along with the other girl.

They were on the first floor only moments later, heading for the back door. Just as Yukari started fiddling with the keyring in her hand, a voice rang out.

"Takeba!" It was Mitsuru. Minako looked around confused; the senior wasn't here. How...

"There is more than one enemy!" the senior's voice continued. "We're not fighting the one Akihiko found!"

"What?!" Yukari cried. She looked at the door, and, as if on cue, something crashed into it loudly. The girl stared a moment, then turned to Minako. "Come on, let's fall back!"

Minako's head had filled with enough questions that they all canceled each other out. She nodded, following along as the other girl started to run for the stairs again.

What seemed like only a moment later, they spilled out of the door to the roof, and Yukari quickly closed it behind them. "Th-there, I think we're safe now."

"What is going on?" Minako hissed between breaths. This had all be so confusing, but alarm was starting to finally win out.

Yukari gave her a look that was strangely full of guilt. "There's a lot you don't know. When it gets like this," she gestured to the green sky and darkened city, "monsters appear. We call them shadows."

Any disbelief Minako might have been able to dredge up faded when she remembered the movement she had heard the night she'd arrived here. 

"...And that's what's after us?"

"A huge one followed Akihiko back here, and..." the other girl trailed off as she turned her head to the side. Minako looked and saw movement as well.

A blue mask was being held up over the edge of the roof by a black hand. The mask itself was huge, way too big for a human head, and it was being moved like it was looking at each girl. Then six more hands appeared, each holding a sword.

Minako's thoughts downshifted into dull horror as yet more arms came over the side of the building and pulled the rest of the creature up. It didn't seem to have a body, just arms and swords and the mask.

Yukari surged a few steps ahead, shaking as she pulled the gun from her holster. But instead of pointing it at the creature, she hesitated. The girl looked back at Minako, then nodded and faced the monster again. "I... I can do this."

Then she turned the gun and pointed it at her own head.

Minako had seen strange things in her life, but tonight had been too many things one after another; she was overwhelmed. Any typical reaction she could have had to any of this just washed away in a panic, which only deepened when the monster started skittering towards them faster.

Before Yukari was able to do anything, several of the arms shot out to smack her to the side. The girl hit the ground with a cry, and the sound of an object clattering across the roof finally broke Minako out of her shock. The item landed at her feet; it was the gun Yukari had on her.

The letters "S.E.E.S." were engraved on its side, just like the armbands Yukari and Mitsuru had worn. It looked strange, not like any gun Minako had seen before. She bent down and picked it up, the motions like a dream rather than anything she consciously decided to do.

The monster was after Yukari again, its swords raised. Something was clenching in Minako's chest; she didn't want to see this. Not helpless again to do something.

But was she? She looked down at the gun. 

Something was urging her to...

...

Minako put the gun to her head. It felt right. There was a moment of hesitation, not sure what was supposed to happen. But that urge was back, and a thought was trying to take hold...

And then...

"Persona," she whispered, pulling the trigger.

It felt awful. Like an entire anxiety attack burst through her in one quick blast. But then she felt the presence and looked up. 

It looked like a robot. Humanoid, with a speaker in its stomach, long reddish hair and a lyre on its back. It looked down at her.

"I am thou," its voice echoed through her. "And thou art I. From the sea of thy soul I cometh... I am Orpheus, master of strings..."

It should have been strange or terrifying. Instead, it felt right, like some of the questions she had were answered. 

Minako heard the clank of swords and realized the arm monster was still after Yukari. She looked up at the... at Orpheus, who nodded to her.

The... persona jumped past Minako and towards the creature, swinging her lute. It smacked against the cluster of arms, getting its attention away from Yukari. Good. Just like she wanted.

Her thoughts moved strangely. She could have it... Orpheus grabbed her head, then fire erupted from the arm monster. Good. She did it again and again, making her... Persona... blast the monster with fire as quickly as Orpheus could produce it. The attacks were affecting the arm monster, but it wasn't nearly as hurt as Minako hoped. So she sent more fire at the thing.

Minako's head was swimming. She had to stop this monster so it wouldn't kill Yukari. But her head was starting to ache badly. Orpheus let out a strange wail, and more fire flashed across the monster, which was now coming back around for Minako.

She was drained though. Orpheus couldn't do much more... but she couldn't give up. The monster was nearly close enough to her to swing at her with its swords. She-

The girl grabbed her head with a shriek. Something was happening, and she understood it even less than the Persona floating near her or the gun that had made her appear. That strange pressure was building now, and she cried out again as all other thought was ground out of her mind.

Another sound echoed on the rooftop, Orpheus let out a scream as well. Minako looked up just in time to see arms jut out of the persona's head, ripping it apart. They shot out, grabbing Orpheus' chest, and pulled. As the persona's body ripped apart, another creature appeared in its fading tatters.

It was much bigger than Orpheus, humanoid again, in long dark coat with white gloves and boots on its spindly limbs. There was a human-like head, completely covered in the same material as the coat, but on top was a metal headpiece somewhere between a helmet and a mask that looked like a bird's skull with jagged teeth. Behind it floated a cape made of coffins, all chained together. Thanatos... Its name was Thanatos.

It roared into the sky, then drew a long sword from its scabbard. The cape of coffins spread out, and it dove down for the monster.

The shadow's arms flailed in an attempt to attack this new creature, but it didn't stand a chance. The sword slashed the inky limbs apart, its hands grabbed and ripped and tore at whatever it could reach, then he finally sliced the mask in two.

The monster was in pieces, its limbs writhing and twitching and dissipating into a red mist. The arm that was gripped in this new Persona's hand spasmed and twitched until it was squeezed and destroyed.

Thanatos, roared at the sky, painfully loud, then silence descended on the rooftop. The huge creature turned his head towards Minako, looking at her. Minako stared back until she blinked and it was gone, replaced by Orpheus. The persona disappeared a moment later as Minako's head started pounding worse than it had before. Then she saw the ground rushing up at her as she fell.


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minako finally gets (some) answers

She was back in the blue elevator. The Velvet Room, as Igor had called it. That probably meant she wad dreaming. The old man was waiting for her at the table, and she moved to sit at the chair across from him.

"I am glad to see you again," he said, smiling that strange smile again.

"I'm not dead, right?" Minako blurted out. Her last thoughts had been of huge monsters and fire, though at the moment that all seemed like it had been different dream.

Igor chuckled, his expression unchanged. "Thankfully, no. You merely lost consciousness when you finished awaking to your persona."

"That was... Orpheus, right?"

"That's right! Your persona is a like a mask you use to face the world around you, born from your psyche. And the more connected you are with the people around you and in the world, the stronger you ability to call personas will be."

The girl sat for a moment, staring down at the blue velvet cloth draped over the table before her. She reached her fingers out and touched the cloth. It was so soft, and shimmered as she disturbed the pile. There were so many questions, but one popped to mind first. "What about the other persona that appeared?" Minako asked. "Thanatos?"

"There are many things we will need to discuss," Igor said, a little chuckle still in his voice. "And for now, I cannot keep you much longer. Time marches on in your world."

"Will I be back soon?"

"You will!" the man said with a nod. "And you will come here of your own volition. Things will be different then, but very much the same. For now, farewell."

Minako wanted to ask something else, but the room faded from her view before the thought could fully form.

****

*.*.*

The first thing she was aware of was how dry her mouth was. Pain wandered in next, but only as a dull ache at the base of her skull. Very tolerable.

Confusion was the next sensation she discovered. Minako cracked an eye open to try and remember where she was and what she was doing. She was greeted by sterile walls and the hospital bed she was lying in.

Whatever was happening still escaped her, and she turned her head to see what else was in the room.

"You're awake!" Yukari cried when she made eye contact. The other girl was sitting in a chair by her bed.

"Mhmm," Minako murmured. "Where am I?"

"This is the Tatsumi Memorial hospital," Yukari answered. "We're not far from the dorm. Everyone's been worried about you."

"What happened?" Minako put her hands through her bangs and rubbed at her scalp. The dull ache hadn't gone anywhere yet.

"The doctor's don't really know what was wrong with you. They figured it was just exhaustion, but we were starting to worry that you wouldn't wake up."

"How long was I out?" the girl asked, getting the feeling she wasn't going to like the answer.

"You lost consciousness on the 9th, and today is the 19th."

Minako whispered a curse. Part of her thought she should be glad it wasn't months, but losing ten days wasn't much of a comfort. 

She let her head fall back on the pillow, turning her eyes back to Yukari. "You haven't been waiting here for me that whole time, have you?"

The other girl looked embarrassed for a moment, but shook her head. "No, I've just been checking up on you." The flustered look turned to something closer to guilt. "It's my fault you ended up here, anyway."

"How do you figure?"

"Well, I knew about what we were dealing with. Only when the time came, I panicked, and you wound up in danger. I should have done more."

"Have you fought those... shadows?" She got a nod in answer, confirming that she'd remembered the name right. "Have you fought shadows before?"

"Well... no."

"Then don't apologize," Minako huffed. "I didn't know what I was doing, either."

"Still, your power is amazing," Yukari said, scooting forward a bit. "That was the biggest shadow anyone had seen before, and if you hadn't been there..." She trailed off, looking a little sick.

The other girl frowned, looking around the room before coming back to Minako. "I have a confession to make."

Minako couldn't help as she grinned, given how much information she'd been exposed  
to, she wasn't sure what could be left. She nodded for the other girl to continue.

"You and I are the same," she said, then shook her head a little. "I mean, I lost my father when I was little. And I don't see my mom, so I'm on my own, too."

Minako nodded, though it was a bit of an automatic response while she thought. She nearly apologized for Yukari's loss, the automatic response, especially with how well she knew that kind of feeling. But instead a question popped out of her mouth. "How do you know about me?"

The guilty look was back, and seemed worse than before. "Because we were monitoring you when you first came to the dorm, and Ikutsuki had us read up on you as well."

She clearly looked startled by that, and Yukari sat forward, holding her hands up. "We... I'm sorry. I didn't want to pry, but we knew you had the Potential for a Persona. Shadows attack anyone who isn't hidden during the Dark Hour. We had to make sure you were okay."

Minako looked Yukari over a moment, then turned her gaze back down to the sheets she had bunched in her hands. Dizziness was starting to hit her now. This had been a lot to take in. It felt like she'd been hit with more information since coming to Port Island than she had her entire life before.

"Once you're out, you can talk to everyone about it all," the other girl suggested. "I know you have to have questions, and I don't know if I have all the answers for you."

Another nod was all Minako could manage as a reply, at least for now. Next to her, Yukari started getting up.

"I'm going to let the others know you're awake," she said, gathering up her things. "Hopefully you'll be released soon."

As she watched Yukari prepare to leave, Minako felt a sudden compulsion to ask her to stay. It was so out of nowhere that she nearly opened her mouth, but ultimately kept quiet.

"All right, I'll see you later!" the other girl said. "I'm glad you're feeling better."

"Thank you," Minako responded, managing to keep herself sounding and looking neutral as the other girl left. Once she was alone, she found her fingers bunched up in the sheet again from tension, and she wasn't sure why.

****

*.*.*

Honestly, she was exhausted. It had felt good getting back to school, but after all that time idle in bed, moving around again was tiring.

For now, she was able to ignore her fatigue as she walked up the stairs behind Yukari. She hadn't had much time to talk to the other girl again, but had been promised she'd finally get some answers at the meeting she was currently being led up to.

"Hey, uh... if they ask you to do anything, think it over carefully, okay?" Yukari said, sounding a little uncomfortable as they got to the forth floor's landing. 

That made her stomach tighten a bit. "Uh... like what kind of thing?"

"You'll see," the other girl said, then opened the only door on the top floor that wasn't a bathroom. Inside was what could only be described as a command room. There was a huge monitor connected to a lot of equipment Minako didn't recognize, there were shelves filled with books along the walls, and in the center of the room was a couch and a set of seats around a table.

Ikutsuki was sitting in a chair at the head of the table, Mitsuru on the couch at his side. Across from her was a teenage boy she didn't recognize, but had to assume was the elusive Akihiko Sanada. He was looking her way, clearly sizing her up.

"Ah, there you are," Ikutsuki spoke up, interrupting her thoughts. "I'm glad you're okay," the chairman continued. "Please, have a seat. There's something I need to talk to you about."

Again, there were too many things to think about, coming too quickly. This had to be about that whole monster-on-the-roof business. Yukari sat on the couch away from Mitsuru, so Minako plopped down on the cushion chair across from her.

"First," Ikutsuki spoke up once she had gotten settled. "I spoke of him before; this is Akihiko."

The senior boy's evaluating expression cleared into something much more friendly. He nodded at her. "How ya doin'?" The change over him was remarkable; Minako had started to wonder if she wasn't passing his inspection until he'd spoken.

She merely nodded to him, only able to spare a brief wonder about him living up to the hype around him before Ikutsuki continued.

"Now, first. I have a question. Would you believe me if I said there were more than 24 hours in a day?"

Minako sat up a little straighter. She glanced at all the faces pointed in her direction; these people all knew? Well, Yukari had been there when that monster showed up. And Mitsuru had met her in the lobby during the blackout her first night in the dorm. Both girls looked calm, maybe a little curious...

Was this some kind of trick? Her instinct was to deny that stretch of time where everything went silent and people disappeared, replaced by coffins. It sounded pretty wild. Like, worrying wild.

But Yukari and Mitsuru knew for sure... She glanced at Yukari one more time, and the other girl gave her a nod.

Minako sucked in a breath, then answered. "Yeah. When everything stops working. And, uh..." she hesitated mentioning the coffin thing. 

Ikutsuki nodded. "It happens every night at midnight. We call it the Dark Hour, a hidden time."

"Most people don't know about it, since they're sleeping in their coffins," Akihiko spoke up. Minako looked back at him. Hearing someone else say it was way more relieving than she had ever expected. It hadn't been some stress-induced hallucination. 

Though, the fact that people really did disappear into huge coffins at midnight wasn't exactly comforting either. That also probably meant her meeting in the Velvet Room hadn't just been a dream.

Akihiko continued, breaking up that thought. "But that's not what makes the Dark Hour so interesting." He stood, and his tone lost that friendly quality, shifting into something between enthusiastic and intense. "You've seen the shadows. They only appear then, and attack anyone not hidden away."

That brought up a few more questions, mainly why she had only seen shadows when she came to Port Island. 

"It our job to stop them," the boy across from her said, a grin splitting his face. "Sounds exciting, huh?" 

They were fighting those things on purpose. That actually was interesting. 

"Akihiko," Mitsuru interrupted, standing up as well. The glare she directed at Akihiko had Minako grimacing in sympathy. "You can't treat this like a game. You just got injured."

The seniors were now glaring at each other. Minako had the feeling they would have argued if there weren't other people in the room.

"Now now," Ikutsuki said, his tone soothing, though Minako wasn't really convinced that would be enough to calm the sudden spike in tension. "Akihiko does his work well. Injuries are always a possibility."

The seniors glanced at Ikutsuki, then at each other one last time. They sat down, Akihiko looking back Minako's way as Mitsuru lowered her gaze to the table. It felt like this was a common argument, so much that Yukari looked unsurprised. 

"At any rate," Ikutsuki continued with a touch of exasperation on his face that faded quickly, "we're the Special Extracurricular Execution Squad. SEES for short."

This was starting to sound like something out of a movie. Minako took the opportunity to pinch her leg. Going by the sharp, annoying pain and the group still looking her way, this wasn't a dream.

"On paper, we're a school club," the chairman said, "but in reality, we're are dedicating to defeating the Shadows. Mitsuru is the leader. I'm the club advisor."

Mitsuru looked her way again, speaking up, "A Shadow feeds on the mind of its prey. The victim becomes a living corpse. The recent strange events on the news are caused by them."

"That thing that attacked us on the roof. That was one of them, right?" Minako asked. "Just a really big one?"

"Right," Ikutsuki responded. "There are a few who are able to experience the Dark Hour. And some even awaken to the power to fight the shadows."

Orpheus and Thanatos came to mind immediately. "Persona," Minako said.

"Exactly," he said with a smile, "Only Persona-users can fight shadows, so it's up to all of you."

Mitsuru stood from the couch, moving to the table and opening the briefcase lying on it. "What he's trying to say is that we want you to join us," she said. "We have prepared an evoker for you." She turned the case toward Minako. Inside was a red SEES armband and one of the guns she'd seen the others carrying.

"Will you lend us your strength?"

Minako felt a frown come over her face. She glanced at Yukari again, who looked very serious. This was the decision she'd been warned about.

She gave it a moment's thought. This was some major-league sticking her neck out. And while the idea of joining a secret club that fought monsters during a secret hour no one else knew about sounded exciting and cool, she had to be sure about this. 

The contract she had signed when she'd first entered the dorm came to mind. Igor had ended up with it. It had felt right doing that, even if contracts normally made Minako very uncomfortable. This felt right, too.

"I'll do it," she said finally.

"I was afraid you weren't going to want to," Yukari said, sounding relieved. Minako hadn't expected that after the warning earlier, which actually made her feel a lot better. Between that and Ikutsuki making it clear there were risks, it seemed like they didn't want her unprepared.

"Well then, you might as well stay in this dorm in your current room," Ikutsuki said. Minako sat up a little. She got to keep the huge single room? Her excitement at that prospect must have shown on her face; the others were all smiling now too.

Something welled up in her chest. She had felt things like that before, that warm happy feeling you got when you realized someone trusted you or a friend did something really nice for you. But this was more intense than she was used to. Even still, she found herself smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I had hoped to keep updating regularly, but I've had bad medical news in my family and I have to prioritize my time a bit more. I do hope to continue, but I'm not going to push myself. So that means updates won't be regular. Thanks for reading


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning for mentions of alcohol and child abuse

He was going to need an energy drink. Not for now. He was plenty awake now. No, he would need it for tomorrow morning when he to drag himself to school on minimal sleep.

Junpei tried to focus on getting something sweet while he was at it, maybe a magazine or something too, but his mind wandered back to the shouting match that had driven him out of the house. The whole thing played back in his head, then just the worst parts. 

It had been bad, bad enough to have him out the door before it got physical. Junpei had learned when he needed to just walk away. Unfortunately, that meant he wouldn't be sleeping any time soon. Not that he would have been able to anyway. 

The temptation cropped up to see if Kaz didn't mind him sleeping on the couch. His mom never minded an extra body in the house in the morning. But an uneasy, embarrassed feeling crawled through Junpei's gut at the thought. He didn't want to have to explain... any of it. Kaz probably wouldn't pry, but he didn't want to have think about any of this when he was at school later.

He tried to think about something else. Something good. He'd done pretty well on his last quiz in history, though that had been due to luck and multiple choice questions. Still, he'd needed the boost in that class.

His father had brought up his grades tonight; a potshot just to make Junpei angry. It had worked. It always worked. 

Junpei didn't even know he was grimacing as he walked. He'd thought, stupidly, that things were improving. His father hadn't been drunk in a couple days. But tonight ended that streak.

He felt his teeth pressing painfully against each other, and he shook his head to get the thought out. Something good. Something good.

Minako was back in school after being sick for more than a week. Maybe he'd see if she wanted to go to the arcade tomorrow. He would be tired, but that's what energy drinks were for.

She hadn't seemed too pleased with Kenji; he was kind of an ass sometimes, but maybe Kaz and Yuko would go, too. Junpei focused on that, figuring out what he had left for spending money this week and how much he could blow through tomorrow.

By now he was in the convenience store, drink in one hand, magazine in the other. But at the thought of the arcade, he set the magazine back down. He'd treat Minako to a couple rounds of whatever she wound up wanting to play. Had to be the good host and all.

He was feeling better now; even the grimace was gone. He'd buy his drink, maybe go walk around a little longer and sneak back in the house. His idiot father would be passed out by then.

Junpei adverted his thoughts back to the arcade before they could turn sour again. But just as he was starting for the counter to pay, something weird happened.

The lights in the store went out. He blinked, then was covered in green-tinged darkness. His mind might have moved towards power outage, but just as the darkness came, his head suddenly felt like it had been packed with cotton, and his stomach rolled. 

Stumbling, he made for the counter to hold himself up. But when he got there, he found a huge black coffin towering over him where the clerk had been. Junpei jerked back a step, looking around for the others in the store. There were more of the coffins, but no people. There had been people a moment before.

The boy was sucking in short gasps of air. Something was wrong, wrong wrong. He put his hands on his head as it spun. What was happening? 

He sunk to his knees, energy drink rolling away as he dropped it. The gasps turned into sobs. He couldn't think past the panicked, fuzzy feeling in his own head.

"Hey," a voice came from above him. He jerked his head up at the noise, and found an actual person above him. A kid close to his age with gray hair. It took him a moment to realize it was Minako's mysterious senior; Akihiko Sanada.

Akihiko held a hand out. "Come on, it's okay."

Junpei didn't move past shakily scrubbing his sleeve across his face while tears kept spilling from his eyes. "W-What's happening? Where is everyone?"

The senior looked calm, glancing back at the coffin near the counter. "It's a long story. Let's get out of here, and I'll tell you it."

The boy's head was still fuzzy, but he finally got his breathing under control after a few more hiccupping gasps. He reached up and grabbed Akihiko's outstretched hand.

****

*.*.*

Most of the other students had already left the room by the time Yukari finally heaved herself out of her seat. Minako was looking at her phone while leaning against her table, apparently content with waiting on her for now.

"I thought I was going to fall asleep for real," Yukari announced, and she saw the other girl's lip quirk up into a smile before she looked away from her phone.

Before she could respond, however, the loud clack of boot heels on the floor was suddenly audible from the hallway. Yukari blew a breath through her nose; that could be only one person.

True to her guess, Mitsuru strode into the room. She nodded to them both before speaking. "Once you're back at the dorm, please meet me in the lounge. We have something to discuss. I'll leave the details until then."

Then, without further ado, she turned and left. Yukari saw Minako close her mouth, looking like she'd been about to speak again. Once she saw Yukari looking her way, the other girl blinked.

"That was fast."

"She's probably got something important to do, like student council, unlike us," bubbled out of Yukari before she could stop herself. She managed to surprise herself with the amount of sarcasm that had seeped into her tone.

Minako gave her a curious look, but didn't comment on it. "Still up for showing me the mall?" she said instead.

"Yeah." Yukari stuffed her papers into her bag. Mitsuru didn't sound like she expected them home immediately, so there was no sense in changing their plans. "Let's go."

Minako followed along as they walked, not saying much. Yukari initially was glad the other girl hadn't questioned her tone about Mitsuru, but the quiet between them was starting to get noticeable. Before getting stubborn about it and clamming up, she decided to just get it out. "It's not like I don't like Misturu, she just... gets on my nerves sometimes."

The other girl looked thoughtful at that remark while they walked through the school's gate. "Well, you two live in the same dorm and you have the same... club." She shrugged. "Occasional tension makes sense."

"Yeah..." Yukari sighed. Minako changed the subject to questions about the mall, which Yukari appreciated.

****

*.*.*

Minako was reading just about the trashiest manga she'd ever gotten her hands on. Not dirty or anything, just about as silly and indulgent as you could get. Why she'd decided to do so in the lounge in the open, waiting for the seniors to show up so they could have their meeting was beyond her.

If anyone recognized it, she could call them out for knowing about it anyway.

Just as they were starting to get to the good stuff, which mean wizard duels, she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. So she stuffed the book into her bag and pulled her phone from her pocket to poke at casually. 

Yukari appeared a moment later, with Mitsuru following right behind. Minako flipped her phone closed and put it back in her pocket, as though that was what she'd been doing the whole time.

"We're just waiting on Akihiko," Mitsuru said.

"Why are we meeting down here instead of the command room?" Minako asked.

"Because he's bringing the subject of this meeting," Mitsuru answered. Minako tried to get a read on the other girl to understand what that meant, but she had the absolute most unbreakable poker face. 

Fortunately, there wasn't much wait. The front door opened a few moments later, and Akihiko strode in with his uniform jacket slung over his shoulder.

"Good; you're all here," Akihiko said after giving Mitsuru a nod of greeting. "There's someone I want you all to meet." He looked behind, only then seeming to notice he was currently alone. Opening the door again, he stuck his head out.

"Hurry up already!" he called. Minako felt her head tilting a little; the shout was something more casual than how she was used to seeing him act.

The voice that answered sounded even more so, however, "I'm coming! This thing weighs a freaking ton."

Yukari stiffened at the familiar voice, and Minako found herself getting to her feet. No way...

Akihiko held the door open as Junpei entered, pushing a stack of luggage in front of him with an overstuffed backpack on his back. Once he was inside, he shrugged off the bag and turned a grin their way. He looked like he was about to speak, but Yukari cut him off.

"What?!" she squawked. "Junpei?"

"This is Junpei Iori from class 2-F," Akihiko said, clapping Junpei on the shoulder. "He'll be staying here at the dorm from now on."

"But..." Yukari was pulling a grimace "Why?"

"I ran into him during the Dark Hour. He has the potential, so I told him about our group, and he agreed to join."

"YOU have the potential?" Yukari didn't seem to be handling this well. She glanced over to Minako. "Are you okay with this?"

Minako wasn't sure if Yukari was looking out for her concerns about the co-ed dorm situation or just looking for a way out of life with Junpei. Looking his way, Minako saw Junpei give her a goofy grin.

"Hm... got any games in there?" she said, eyeing his bags.

"Only the latest consoles, handhelds and peripherals," he said, waggling his eyebrows.

"He can stay," Minako said to a very exasperated-looking Yukari. Junpei looked triumphant as Minako walked over and gave him a light punch on the arm. "I can't believe you're joining murder squad."

"You can't have one without me," Junpei said, saluting.

"Once you get your things in your room," Akihiko spoke up, "we need to talk. I think we're ready now." He looked Mitsuru's way, who nodded.

"Oh man, are we gonna do some murder squad stuff?" Junpei asked, sounding excited.

The senior nodded. "With this many people, we can start exploring Tartarus."


	6. Chapter 6

It was windy tonight, making the already chill night air colder. Minako was glad she still had her wool uniform jacket on. It felt strange being in front of the school at such a late hour, though. Doing so with the rest of the small group that formed SEES felt a little better, but would probably look odd to someone passing by.

"Uh, so..." Junpei spoke up. "What are we doing?"

Akihiko flipped his phone open at checked it, "Just wait a few minutes, it's almost midnight." The senior's tone had that intense quality to it that had surfaced when he'd spoke about the shadows before. The guy apparently liked his work.

Before any more thought went to that, the change came. It was wasn't necessarily unpleasant, but it always managed to set Minako on edge. The air changed as though the barometer dropped violently. It never seemed to happen while she watched, but once she blinked, the sky turned green and the ground was splotched with pools of blood. With the visual change came the smell; the acrid scent of blood didn't permeate the air, but it was there if the wind was right.

This had been the first time Minako had been around others when it happened. Since the first few times she had noticed the Dark Hour, she had tried her best to be asleep before midnight. But given her night owl nature, it had been a struggle to say the least.

she glanced around at the others once the change happened; Unsurprisingly, Mitsuru looked calm, as did Yukari. Akihiko had that intense look that went with his earlier tone, also unsurprising. Poor Junpei looked nervous. Minako could hardly blame him if this was one of the first few times he'd experienced the change. The girl would have liked it if she had people around when she had first seen it.

Before any other wandering thoughts struck her, there was a noise from the school building. She started, and noticed Junpei's shoulders raise as well. The others looked calm.

Then a huge tower started rising out of the building before them. It grew, springing pieces that looked like they'd been pulled from random buildings. Some sections formed what looked like viewing platforms or stairs, others spirals that shot out at weird angles, others still looked like just piles of windows stacked up. Once it stopped rising, it looked like it was a couple hundred stories tall.

There was silence for a long stretch, which was eventually broken up by Junpei. "W...what just happened to our school?!"

"The tower only exists during the Dark Hour," Mitsuru spoke up.

"It's where the shadows come from," Akihiko added. "It's their nest."

Junpei was still staring up at the tower, and frankly Minako was having a hard time looking away herself.

"Now that we have more members, we can finally start exploring it," Akihiko continued.

"Why does it appear here?" Yukari spoke up. Minako found her staring at Mitsuru as she asked.

The older girl didn't respond, looking almost sheepish. That was definitely a new look on her. Once the silence stretched out, Yukari spoke again.

"You don't know, do you?"

"That's what we're trying to find out," Akihiko interjected. "Come on; Mitsuru and I have only looked around a bit before, but now we can go further."

He lead the way into the lobby, which was huge. The dark walls were broken up by tall marble columns that circled around a staircase. It lead to what looked like a huge, golden clock. Among the visible gears of the face was an opening, but what was beyond it looked obscured by a shimmering fog barrier.

"That leads up to the floors of tartarus," Akihiko explained. "With a team, we'll have enough power to fight what we find inside," he smacked his fist into an open palm.

"Akihiko," Mitsuru said, voice stern. "You won't be going up with them. Not until you've healed."

That sucked the wind out of the boy. He looked like he wilted just a bit before answering, "I know. You don't have to remind me."

Mitsuru turned to face the rest of them while Akihiko shook off the glum look that had come over him. "You three will be going up for now. I will be able to navigate for you with this," she patted a device she'd carried in that looked like a radio.

"Do we get radios?" Junpei asked.

"No, I'll be able to send messages to you without them. That and being able to see where you are and guide you is one of my persona's abilities."

"Just the three of us?" Yukari asked, sounding a little nervous.

"Yes, you should be able to handle things," Mitsuru said. "Though we need to assign a leader while Akihiko heals."

Junpei seemed to finally get over his stupor at that announcement. "Oh! Oh me! I'll do it, I'll lead!" He practically hopped up and down as he waved an arm.

Minako figured if he wanted the position, she'd leave him to it. But she saw Akihiko frown as he looked at Junpei, then turned his gaze at her.

"Minako, you'll lead."

"What?" Junpei groaned before she could respond. "But she's a girl-"

Anything else he'd been about to say suddenly dried up as three heads turned towards him, all setting glares his way. His mouth hung open until he caught the expression Mitsuru was giving him, which seemed to cow him.

"Minako has already fought shadows before, as well as call her persona," Akihiko spoke up. Either he was ignoring the exchange of death glares, or he hadn't noticed. "Are you willing to lead?"

"I'll do it," she answered, giving one more glare Junpei's way.

"Good," Mitsuru said. Then she started talking about how much she intended to have them do right as her voice faded out.

Minako stared at the other girl as she stopped moving. Then she noticed none SEES was moving. Then she saw the door.

A deep blue door was standing in the middle of the floor, just away from the stairs. It hadn't been there a moment ago. Minako looked at the others again, then moved for the door, the others didn't move.

As she got closer, she thought she heard music coming from beyond the blue door. She also found herself reaching into her pocket without much thought.

The key she'd received from Igor was there. But that had been during a dream. She looked at the others, who still weren't moving. This felt like a dream.

So, with a shrug, she stuck the key in the door's keyhole, turned it and opened.

The Velvet Room was as it had been before, though Minako noticed the doors covered with sheets looked like they had shifted some; a few of the doors were bare now.

More interestingly, it wasn't just Igor waiting for her this time. A tall man was standing behind where he sat. He wore what looked like an elevator attendant's uniform in deep blue. Given they were in an elevator, that certainly made sense.

Minako sat on the chair across from Igor, who smiled as she did. "Welcome back."

"Hello," she answered, the strangeness of the situation always seeming to get her best behavior out of her.

"You are going to be exploring the tower," Igor said, "And while you look for the answers it holds, you'll also explore your power."

"What do you mean?" Minako asked, trying to keep the questions swirling in her head calm enough so she could pay attention.

"Your power is that of the fool, empty, but holding unlimited potential. You can summon multiple personas, of which you will find as you ascend the tower. And when you return again, I will be able to show you the way in which I will most importantly assist you."

Minako nodded, even if she still didn't really know what was going on. She had already summoned more than one Persona before, right? Would it always been automatic?

"I will have little for spare time soon," Igor said, sounding official, "But my assistant will be able to tend to anything you might need that does not require my attention." 

He gestured to the man, who took a step forward and bowed. "Hello, my name is Theodore, though you may call me Theo. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Minako nodded, trying to take this all in before remembering herself. "It's nice to meet you."

"I suppose you have questions, but for now I suggest you go back to your friends," Igor said, sounding amused. 

"Am I dreaming?" she asked.

"No, not this time," Igor said, sounding amused. "Though time has a funny way of working here."

Minako nodded and stood. "I'll be back," she said, sure of that.

"I look forward to seeing you again," Theo said with another bow.

Minako turned to leave, but after she moved to do so, she found herself slowing. She blinked, and when her eyes opened, she was back in Tartarus' lobby.

"You okay?" Junpei asked, looking her way. 

"Uh? Yeah," Minako said, shaking her head. "Just spaced out."

"Pretty bad... you sure you're up for this?" the boy asked, perhaps just a shade too eagerly.

"I am," Minako said, "Are you guys ready?" 

"Hell yeah!" Junpei said giving the broad sword in his hands a swing. Minako stared at it a moment, then noticed she had a short sword in her own hand. She only noticed then there were a few other weapons near Mitsuru's radio and figured the sword ended up in her hands while time was going on and off around her.

Shaking her head one last time, she thought about facing more shadows. Hopefully it wouldn't be like last time, but, "Before we go up..." Minako said, looking at Yukari and Junpei. "Let's try something."

"You're taking the leader thing seriously," Junpei said, hand on his hip.

Minako nodded, "I am. Call your persona."

The boy looked a little surprised at that. His mouth bunched up a bit to the side, then he nodded. His hand went to his holster, then hesitated.

Minako started to open her mouth to explain the process as best she knew, but then the evoker was out and to his head. 

"Persona!" Junpei cried, and then there was a flash of light and a figure behind him.

Humanoid, with golden metallic wings that stretched out from its arms and connected to its ankles, the body looked lightly armored with a helmet on the head in dark colors. It was beautiful.

Junpei stared at the persona, mouth lightly agape. The creature was looking down on him as it hovered in the air. Then it looked up and dissipated.

"Hermes," the boy said out loud. "His name is Hermes."

"Good job, Iori," Mitsuru called. "If your preparations are done, proceed to the entrance."

Minako squared her shoulders, then started in as she was told. Yukari and Junpei flanked her as they marched up the stairs to the fogged doorway.

"Fog doors are baaaaad news," Junpei breathed, which made Minako snort as she stepped through.

They wound up in a hallway. Checkered floors and gray walls, all bathed in a green light that reflected on the light fog in the air. There were random splashes of blood on the walls and floor. It felt like the outside during the Dark Hour, but somehow more tense.

"Start looking around," Mitsuru said as if she was standing right with them. Minako startled just a little; she'd remembered this from the night she'd seen the huge shadow on the dorm roof. Junpei looked more surprised. "There are some shadows on this floor, but they look like something you can handle."

Minako was heartened at that. She lifted the sword, which felt odd in her hands, but not horrible. "You guys ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Yukari grumbled, hands clenched on her bow.

"Let's do this!" Junpei hollered.

"All right, let's go," Minako said, striding forward.


	7. Chapter 7

It had been amazing. He'd been amazing. Junpei had barely heard a word in class the entire day. Not that that didn't happen occasionally, but he was surprised he'd been able to focus enough to eat today after the night they'd had. 

He'd fought monsters with a sword and he had a summon and he'd gone home to a place with a bunch of people who weren't his father. Junpei had been very pleasantly surprised to wake up this morning and find out it wasn't a dream.

"How about that speech?" Minako's voice pulled him from his thoughts. She was gathering her things from her desk into her bag.

Oh yeah, that was the one thing that had managed to get his attention today; Mitsuru was student class president now and gave a speech that sounded like a politician from a movie.

Still, he rolled his head towards Minako. "I guess we shouldn't be surprised she wound up winning. Her family owns the school, after all."

"Please, you've been around her. Do you honestly think Mitsuru needed help from the school or anyone to make class president?" Minako slung her bag over her shoulder.

"Well... no, I guess not," Junpei admitted as he got up as well. "She's like, beyond normal humans."

Minako nodded solemnly as they left the classroom and started for the exit. She let out a little laugh once they were out of the building. "Face it, you and me are the schlubs of the dorm."

"What about Yukari? I'm no more of a schlub than her."

She just stared at him until he let out a groan. "Okay, fine, you're right." He elbowed her lightly. "At least I'm not alone."

"My brother in mediocrity, tied for the dorm's worst people," Minako said dramatically, casting her arms out as they were nearly to the school's gate.

Junpei had been about to ask if she was trying to take the title for herself, but a squealed cry cut him off.

"It's Akihiko-senpai!!"

Junpei turned back towards the door and found a group of six girls crowded around Akihiko as he stepped out of the building.

"Speaking of our beyond-human dorm mates," Minako said with a snort. "Here comes Mr. Dreamboat."

"Girls don't even swarm like that on TV," Junpei tsked. "I know he's the captain of the Boxing Team, but who would have thought he'd be that much of a chick magnet?"

"Girls like the idea of a guy who could dismantle someone with his bare hands," Minako said, still sounding amused.

"Oh yeah? Does that include you?" Junpei teased, smirking when she looked back at him.

"Nah. Akihiko's a sweetheart, but we maintain a professional relationship." She nodded at the last part. "Yukari did mention he's hiding a nice set of muscles under that sweater vest though. Window shopping never hurt anyone, after all."

"Gross, you perv."

"You got a lot of nerve calling me a perv!" Minako barked out a laugh. Junpei noticed a few of the group by the door, including Akihiko, seemed to have heard. 

Akihiko started walking for them, parting the small crowd around him. "Hey," he called as he got closer, "are you guys busy?"

"No way; what's up?" Junpei had to stop himself from rubbing his hands together. Lucky break; senpai was going to invite them to hang out with all these girls-

"Good. You know where Paulownia Mall is, right?" He'd pointed the question to Minako, but Junpei was too distracted by the possibilities to hear her exact response. The arcade? Akihiko didn't seem the type. The club sounded too good to be true, but-

"Meet me at the police station," the senior said.

"The... police station?" Junpei managed. "Aren't we hanging out with your friends?" 

Akihiko followed his eyes to the group of girls still following at a distance. He let out a sigh once he realized what the other boy meant. "No. I don't even really know any of them. And they talk so much they give me a headache." There was another sigh. "Anyway, don't keep me waiting at the mall," he said, walking off.

"Waiiiiit," one of the girls called. She let out a huff once it was clear he wasn't planning on stopping. "I wish he was nicer, jeez."

"That's why he's so cool," another girl sighed.

Junpei nearly let out a huff himself, but then he noticed nearly all the girls looked their way. Then he realized they were actually looking at Minako. Actually, they were glaring at her like she'd called them something nasty. Junpei thought for a moment he'd missed her saying something, but she was rummaging around in her bag until she found a piece of candy.

Looking up while fumbling the wrapper off, Minako noticed the eye lasers in her direction. She seemed just as confused as Junpei, but then a grin crawled over her face. "You guys aren't seriously jealous that senpai's introducing me to the local cops, right?"

The glares pointed at her got a little worse. Minako laughed. "Come on, Junpei. Let's go see if Akihiko's getting us arrested for something."

Junpei finally let that huff out.

****

*.*.*

Glancing over, Minako caught another frown on Junpei's face. "Okay, what is going on? You look angry."

"Huh?" his face cleared up when he saw her looking his way, then he shrugged. "I dunno. Didn't really want to spend the afternoon talking to official types."

"Aren't you curious about this? Akihiko having us meet him at the police station has to be for something business related."

The boy scoffed. "I'd rather go have fun."

"You didn't really think he was gonna pass girls around the table to you, right?"

The scowl he turned in her direction answered that question. Time to change the subject. "Uh... well, let's just go get this over with, right?"

"Right," Junpei grumbled. By then they had reached the police station's doors, which Junpei elbowed open.

Inside, Akihiko was speaking with a police officer behind the desk. The man's age was hard to grasp, maybe late twenties? Maybe thirties? His face was made of severe lines, but still came off as handsome. 

"...Thank you, sir," Akihiko said, then glanced back and noticed them. "There you are." There was a slight admonishing tone. "I've been waiting."

Minako wound up for a deflecting joke, but decided against it. The senior nodded back to the cop at the desk. "This is Officer Kurosawa. He provides weapons for SEES."

Well that was interesting. She perked up a bit when Akihiko turned back to face them. "This is Minako Arisato and Junpei Iori. They'll need to be armed and armored now that they're part of our group. As for you two," he stepped forward, digging in his pocket. "This is from Ikutsuki." He handed Minako 5,000 yen, and the same to Junpei. 

"Woah, really? Sweet," Junpei chimed in.

Akihiko grinned. "You can't fight empty-handed, and the equipment we gave you was pretty basic. Minako, you said you weren't happy with yours before, right?"

She nodded. She'd told him and Mitsuru after they're initial crawl through Tartarus. That sword just hadn't been a good fit for her. 

"Officer Kurosawa has connections and ways to get us what we need," Akihiko explained, "but it's not free."

"Nothing in life is," the cop said while looking over Minako and Junpei.

Akihiko nodded to him, then walked up and clapped a hand on Minako's shoulder. "He'll get you set up. I have to get going. See you back at the dorm."

"Thanks, Akihiko," Minako said as the senior started to leave. He gave her a grin and a nod, then exited the station. She started to turn toward Kurosawa, but Junpei spoke up at her side, interrupting her.

"We're not going to Tartarus tonight, right?" Junpei asked. 

"Huh? Oh, no. I'm still tired, honestly."

"Yeah. I'm gonna deal with all this later, then. I'm kinda... eh. I'll see you later" The boy stalked off, still looking miffed. 

Once he was out the door, Minako turned back to find Kurosawa giving her an evaluating look. She merely smiled and shrugged.

"As you can see, my team is a well-oiled machine."

"You're the one in charge?" the officer asked, looking even more carefully at her. 

"Only on the field, and only temporarily. I'm sure you know Mitsuru's the real brains of the outfit."

"Mm, yeah," he nodded, but his expression was still somewhat cold. "You and your group are dealing with something I don't understand, but I do know it's something that can't be ignored. I don't need details; the less I know, the better it is for you."

Her head tilted a fraction, though as she thought it through she gave a little nod. "Make sense... Won't have to do your duty if you don't know your duty is supposed to be done, huh?"

A tiny grin finally cracked the intense look on the man. "Right. What kind of weapon were you looking for?"

"I have no clue," Minako admitted. "What do you have?"

"Plenty," he looked her over again. "Akihiko said you hadn't liked what you were using before. What was it?"

"A short sword." She shook her head while thinking over last night's fighting. "It felt like I wasn't balanced right or something."

The cop nodded. "How much upper body strength do you have?"

"Enough to throw a punch... but I'm no prize figther. That's Akihiko, I understand."

The cop grunted in agreement. "All right... I have something that might work. "How are you at swinging things?"

"Like a bat? Uh, pretty good I guess. It's been a while since I've been to the batting cages, though." She wondered for a moment if he was going to bring her another sword as he wandered into a back room. Instead, he returned a moment later with a blade on the end of a staff.

"This is a naginata," he said.

Minako nodded. "I've seen them," she held her hands out, and the officer handed the weapon over. 

"Step back and swing it," he said. "You want to slash more than stab."

The girl felt the weight of the weapon, adjusted her grip a few times, then swung it over her shoulder. It felt awkward... but not off balance like the sword had been. This felt more like she just needed to get used to it. She nodded at Kurosawa.

"Yeah... I think this will do."

"Good." That tiny grin had returned.


End file.
